Can a community be a unified group of people without shared rituals and traditions? It appears through the events of the novel that a community built so strongly on shared rituals and traditions is incapable of functioning as a unified group of people without these shared ideals. This is especially true when the shared ideals become the dividing factor in the stretching and tearing of their cultural fabric. The converts who once were strong adherents to the Ibo polytheistic way of life not only turn their backs on these rituals and traditions, they actually overtly make attempts to tear them apart and put them down. The division is drawn as clear as a line in the sand and goes so far as to cause a tragic occurrence that has a deadly potential for all involved.